


meet me in the moonlight

by oldrival



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl & Platinum | Pokemon Diamond Pearl Platinum Versions
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Pokespe - Freeform, Sickfic, them babie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:33:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23905486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oldrival/pseuds/oldrival
Summary: pearl gets sick. platinum eventually decides she is considerate enough to lend him a hand. or at least some body heat.
Relationships: HaughtyShipping, Hikari | Dawn | Platinum Berlitz/Jun | Barry | Pearl, Platinum Berlitz/Pearl
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	meet me in the moonlight

“Are you coming down with something?” Diamond finally asks, after Pearl sniffles miserably for what must be the thousandth time in the past few minutes. Pearl pulls his scarf up around his mouth, stifling a yawn, “No! It’s just allergies, or something… I don’t know. I’m fine.”

The trio trudges through the boulder-speckled sands of Route 213 as they depart from Pastoria. It’s late; the only sounds on the deserted beach are the shuffle of their shoes through the pale sand and the gentle rhythm of cerulean waves washing gently over the shore. The sun has almost disappeared behind the marshes they had plodded through not so long ago, succumbing its golden reign over the sky to the moon, which bathes the beach in a silvery serene glow. It would be a rather tranquil journey to their next resting point if Pearl wasn’t sucking snot up like a vacuum every five seconds. 

“Are you cold?” Diamond asks as Pearl shudders after a particularly violent sneeze, “I can get my jacket out of my bag…”

He and Platinum have shed their coats in favor of relishing the cool breeze against their tired skin. Pastoria’s marshes are heavy and humid, and Route 213 offers a refreshing change in atmosphere after hours of wading through the sticky marsh air. Pearl still has his scarf and jacket on, however, arms crossed against his chest as the trio presses on. 

“You know, this air quality is really quite nice. There’s barely any foliage, either. I don’t see how you could be allergic to anything here … unless you’re allergic to … sand?” Platinum ponders, covering her mouth as she yawns. Pearl shakes his head, attempting to reassure himself as much as his friends, “I’m just tired. I’m not sick.”

Diamond rummages in his pants pocket until he retrieves a weathered copy of a map of Sinnoh, unfolding it in his hands as they continue meandering along the cliffside, “As soon as we get through this thin stretch here, we should be at Hotel Grand Lake. You made those reservations, right, Missy?”

Platinum nods, casting a concerned side-eyed glance at Pearl as he coughs into the bend of his elbow. 

“Do you have any medicine, Diamond?” she squints into the distance, trying to recall collecting anything of medicinal value during their journey. 

“Medicine doesn’t work on allergies,” Pearl counters, attempting to suppress his shivering. Platinum scoffs, glaring at him, “Are you serious? Yes it does. Just because you can’t directly get rid of an allergy to something doesn’t mean you can’t lessen the symptoms of it. What did your mother do for you when you had allergies growing up?”

Pearl’s brow furrows as he meets Platinum’s eyes skeptically, “Uh… soup? And she made me sleep for hours. Humans aren’t supposed to sleep for a whole day straight! Man, was that annoying…” 

Platinum rolls her eyes. Diamond perks up at the mention of sleep and food, “I’ve slept for a day before. And I can make soup no problem. I mean, we already ate tonight, but who doesn’t like soup for breakfast?”

Diamond’s questionable suggestion draws simultaneous groans of disgust from both trainers beside him. 

“Anyway, look,” Diamond points ahead of them, changing the subject, “It’s the hotel!”

Hotel Grand Lake’s boxy white silhouette greets the trio as they round the corner of the rocky cliffside. Moonlight illuminates the bare stretch of sandy beach and the stone steps leading the way up to the hotel. 

“Finally,” Pearl rasps, abruptly clearing his throat, which sends him plummeting into a coughing fit. He yanks his scarf up to cover his mouth, squinting sheepishly down at the sand so he doesn’t have to meet Diamond and Platinum’s telling eyes. 

“You’d better get well fast, or else we won’t be able to continue on,” Platinum chides as Diamond pats the blond’s back as if his ailment would come flying out. Pearl turns to glare at her, “How am I supposed to control that? Geez… it’s not my fault.”

Platinum just purses her lips and glances away towards the ocean, aloof. After traipsing silently (besides Pearl’s periodic sinus bursts) through the sand for a while, the trio eventually lumbers up the stone steps towards the large azure door of Hotel Grand Lake. Platinum steps ahead to push open the door, Diamond and Pearl ambling behind her into the bright white reception area. Diamond and Pearl remain huddled behind her as she strides up to the reception counter, manned by a scruffy, half-asleep employee. 

“Um, hello,” Platinum declares, a hint of uncertainty in her tone, “I have a reservation.”

The employee blinks, “Oh, sorry, hello there. What’s it under?”

“Berlitz.”

The employee plucks at a keyboard hidden behind the reception counter, frowning, “I’ve got the reservation, but the payment never went through. If you can pay now, the room is ready for you.”

Diamond and Pearl exchange an apprehensive look. 

“That’s fine. I’ll have to call someone. I’d like the room key now, though, if that’s alright,” Platinum turns to the boys behind her, “You two go to the room. I’ll sort this out.”

They nod blankly, too exhausted to formulate a meaningless response. A moment later, Platinum hands them the room key and steps aside to dial up some distant servant to send the payment through. The employee at the counter nods off again as Diamond and Pearl leave Platinum behind in the reception area. 

“I really don’t feel good, Dia,” Pearl grumbles as soon as they’re outside in the moonlit tangle of pale white bungalows. Diamond clicks his tongue, peering down at the room key to figure out their room number, “I knew it. I bet it was the transition from that gross swamp to this nice beach air. You’d better get to sleep as soon as we find our room…”

Pearl stumbles against Diamond’s blissfully (and very unfairly, considering he’s freezing) warm side as they begin the hunt for their bungalow. After wandering around and jamming the key into a considerable number of rooms that it turns out, did not belong to them, Diamond unlocks one of the blocky white buildings’ doors. 

“Wow. This is nice,” Diamond proclaims as the boys take in their room. There’s two beds - Diamond and Pearl usually share when it comes to one-room situations because Platinum refuses to fathom even the idea of being near their snoring mess of fidgety limbs and she’s still kind of a stranger (when it’s convenient) compared to the boys’ several years of close friendship - and a small bathroom in addition to the other typical hotel furnishings that go unused during their one-or-two-night stays. Pearl scoffs, “As usual. Imagine us taking on Sinnoh without Missy’s cushy hotels. That’d be a nightmare.”

Diamond’s halfway through nodding in agreement when he casts a concerned look towards Pearl as he bursts into another coughing fit. 

“I really hope you’re not contagious,” Diamond chews on his bottom lip, realizing they’ll be sharing a bed. They shrug their bags off in unison, tossing them at the foot of one of the beds. 

“Shoot. Missy’ll be so pissed if we’re both sick,” Pearl snuffs, squatting to pull his pajamas out of his bag. Diamond peels back the sheets of the bed and pokes the mattress to ensure it isn’t stiff (if Platinum is dishing out nightly fortunes for their maximum comfort, the beds they sleep in better be worth the price). Stretching languidly, Diamond wanders into the bathroom. Pearl hastily tugs his pajamas on - he’d grown out of his original pajamas about two weeks into their journey across Sinnoh; now he sleeps in threadbare sweatpants and one of his father’s timeworn sweatshirts. He’d shot up like a rocket next to Diamond and Platinum as they trekked around the island. He’s gladly welcomed the additional intimidating quality his height lends him when he’s angry despite the inconvenient fit his clothes take on every few months. 

The shower squeaks to life and Diamond appears in the bathroom doorway as Pearl is clambering into bed, “I’m gonna take a shower, okay? Do you need anything?”

Pearl shakes his head before falling back into the relaxing cushion of five-star pillows. Diamond ambles over to the bedside anyway, gingerly placing a palm onto Pearl’s forehead. 

“You’re burning up,” Diamond winces. Pearl pulls a face, squinting up at him, “What are you talking about? I’m freezing… I’ve been shivering all night.”

“You’ve got yourself a fever, buddy,” Diamond frowns down at the blond, “It’s a shame we don’t have any medicine. Get some rest.”

He disappears back into the bathroom. Pearl’s knocked out as soon as he buries himself in soft sheets and squeezes his eyes shut. 

He’s startled awake by another cool palm on his forehead. He assumes it’s Diamond checking his fever again, so he doesn’t bother to open his eyes, instead nestling further into the blanket refuge he’s tangled himself in. When icy fingers start to prod at his ears, though, he blinks up at the bleary intrusion. Cobalt hair piled without care on top of a pale face stands over him. 

“I’m still cold, Dia,” Pearl complains, eyes fluttering shut again as he yawns. He thinks he hears the shower still running but he has no idea how much time has passed since he’d dozed off earlier. Pearl sniffs, batting weakly up at the hand nudging his face, “I know I have a fever. If you get into bed I’ll get warm and it’ll go away,” the hand refuses to budge, “Your hands are cold. Not helping.”

Pearl shivers and decides if Diamond won’t listen to him, he’ll just have to risk getting sick too so he can provide the body heat Pearl desperately needs right now. Mustering what little strength his sore body retains, he grabs the pale wrist above him and tugs it so the figure looming over him tumbles down on top of him. Cracking an eye open, he realizes too late the person rolling off of him is not Diamond. 

“Oh, geez,” Pearl sucks in a breath, turning to cough away from Platinum lying next to him. Her hair is tied back and of course she would have ignored Pearl’s complaints - his feverish state had jeopardized his judgement. 

“Seriously?” Platinum crosses her arms, glaring sideways at him, “You can’t be sick if you managed to do that. And I’m too tired to get up again.”

Pearl stifles another yawn - his throat is beginning to ache now - as he blinks back at her. 

“Dia said I have a fever,” he croaks. Platinum opts for staring up at the ceiling. Pearl figures he must look pretty ill at this point if Platinum decides to stop glaring at him for once.

“I agree,” she says, shifting so she’s on her side facing him. Pearl sniffs. Now he’s the one interested in the ceiling. He hopes Platinum interprets the rosy pigment spreading across his cheeks as a side effect of his fever instead of a result of her silvery stare.

They’re silent for a moment, the room filled only with Pearl’s stuffy breathing and Diamond’s muffled one-sided, “is that so?”s as he rehearses their stand-up sketch while he showers. 

“Well, since you’re here,” Pearl pauses to cough up at the ceiling, “Would you like to spare some body heat?”

Platinum smiles, but it’s a disdainful smile, almost a grimace, that seems to ridicule him and ask, “You really couldn’t think of a smoother way to ask me to cuddle?”

Of course, that’s definitely not what he’s asking at all. Lying closer together will reduce his fever - though the blush surging across his face at Platinum’s silent response is doing a pretty good job at warming him up at the moment. 

“If not, then that’s totally f-” Pearl starts, only to choke on his words and frantically cover his abrupt coughs when Platinum scoots closer to him - expressionlessly, of course, she can’t just reveal that she has any sort of compassion for him in his very pathetic state - and their arms touch. Pearl’s eyes bore into the very interesting ceiling. He knows she’s looking at him out of the corner of her eyes. 

“Happy now?” Platinum asks dryly. The subtle smirk on her lips is practically audible. Pearl didn’t think he’d get this far along, but if there’s one thing he’s got, it’s willpower. Sniffing partly for effect and partly because he’s kind of struggling to breathe, he replies, “I just don’t think the body heat is really … really getting anywhere between us, y’know? All I’m saying is this isn’t gonna do anything for my fever.”

Platinum scoffs. 

“Where is Dia supposed to sleep?” 

Pearl’s heart leaps into his throat, sending him into another coughing fit. She can’t be implying she’s willing to sleep next to him. In the same bed as him. Him and his annoying snores and jittery appendages. 

“There’s, uh,” he tries to steady his breathing, “Uh, a whole empty bed right over there. I’m sure he won’t mind all the extra space.”

Platinum hums in acknowledgement. Pearl swallows. His throat burns. So does his face.

“Listen to me,” Platinum demands, very seriously, turning back on her side and flinging one leg over Pearl’s, “If you kick me out of this bed, I swear I’ll make you regret it.”

Pearl freezes, trying his hardest not to move a single muscle as Platinum drapes her arm across his chest and snuggles into his side. 

“I - I can’t promise you anything. But I will try my absolute best not to,” Pearl mumbles, peering down at the top of her head resting on his shoulder. He wiggles his arm out from under her as gingerly as he can, being even more cautious as he places his palm on her back. Maybe it’s psychosomatic, but he’s already feeling better. 

Pearl closes his eyes, and he almost doesn’t want to fall asleep. He wishes they could stay just like this forever. He knows they’ll wake up in the morning and Platinum will pretend that nothing out of the ordinary happened, that she didn’t just wordlessly tell him “I like you too!” while he flounders around acting like a blushing, stuttering mess. They’ll get there sooner or later.

**Author's Note:**

> thank u so much for reading!!! i hope u enjoyed <3 feel free to talk about pokespe w meee


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